Technology

MasterCard recently said contactless acceptance will be standard by 2020 for European merchants accepting MasterCard and Maestro.
Existing point-of-sale terminals must be replaced by January 1, 2020, at the latest, while new POS terminals must adhere to the new standard upon deployment from January 1, 2016, onwards.
“Europeans can... Read More...

One of the country’s largest credit unions recently invested in and selected CU Wallet—the payments industry’s first credit union-focused mobile payments initiative—as its mobile payments and wallet provider.
Security Service Federal Credit Union (SSFCU), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the 10 largest credit unions in the... Read More...

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) recently announced it will host Mobile Payments Day at the end of the month in a joint venture with the Merchant Advisory Group and Federal Communications Bar Association.
Mobile Payments Day, which will be held on Sept. 30 at The City Club of Washington, will feature mobile payments companies,... Read More...

Capital One said on Tuesday that its customers will have access to Apple Pay, Apple’s new payment service, beginning next month.
According to the company, in October, customers can use their debit and credit cards directly from their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch to make purchases.
“Working with Apple, we’re excited to bring... Read More...

PayPal announced last week that biometric technology allowing customers to login using their fingerprint to make a purchase will be available on Samsung’s new Note 4 and Gear S.
The announcement was made during the Samsung Unpacked Episode 2 event held in Berlin, Beijing and New York last Wednesday.
“By giving more people the option to... Read More...

The NFC World Congress will be held later this month in France, bringing together payments companies, entrepreneurs from across the globe and innovative developers for a three-day conference that explores emerging mobile payments technologies.
Panels on mobile payment security and deployment of NFC technology worldwide will be held on Sept. 22,... Read More...

In a newly released position paper, the ATM Industry Association encouraged additional supervision of bitcoin operators, citing a lack of accountability and a potential to be targeted by money launderers and cybercriminals.
According to ATMIA, while the future of bitcoin is uncertain, it is a significant development in the payments space and is... Read More...

Oberthur Technologies (OT) announced on Tuesday the completion of its acquisition of NagraID Security, the developer of patented display card technology.
“The acquisition of NagraID Security is an important step for OT in its plan to maintain leadership on its markets,” Didier Lamouche, the president and CEO of OT, said. “We are confident... Read More...

Eight financial technology startups were recently chosen to participate in the 2014 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific, which was launched by Accenture in June to support early-stage companies that are developing new technology for the financial services industry.
The eight startups include Advanced Merchant Payments, AtCipher.com, Beijing... Read More...

The SmallBizDev Hackathon will be held later this month in New York, challenging developers, designers and entrepreneurs to design a winning mobile financial solution for small businesses in the U.S.
The event, which will begin at 9 a.m. on Sept. 13 at the Capital One 360 Café and run through Sept. 14, is open to U.S. citizens or permanent... Read More...

New peer-to-peer (P2P) payment technologies are gradually replacing traditional payment forms among millennial consumers, according to a recent report from Nielsen.
Mobile users age 18-34 account for the largest share of mobile payment users—55 percent indicated that they use mobile payment services. Thirty-five percent of mobile payment... Read More...

Square recently released an updated version of Cash, a free app to request and make cash transfers via mobile phone number or email address.
According to the company, users will be able to send and request money--even if the recipient does not have the app—from up to 25 people at one time, streamlining payment collection for large events and... Read More...

The University of Southern Maine (USM) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for the Maine Cyber Security Cluster, a research lab housed at the university that will teach student workers how to combat a number of security threats.
Construction for the lab began earlier this year at USM’s science building, with $1 million in grant support... Read More...

UPS announced last week that malware discovered on computer systems at 51 stores compromised consumer information, exposing names, postal addresses, payment card information and email addresses.
The intrusion makes UPS the latest retailer among major names like Target and Michaels that have experienced a security breach.
According to the... Read More...

The Money20/20 conference, which explores trends in payments and innovations within the financial services industry, will be held this fall in Las Vegas and will include participation by more than 2,250 companies.
The event, which will be held Nov. 2-6 at the ARIA Resort and Casino, will feature more than 300,000 square feet of showcasing and... Read More...

Ingenico recently partnered with FreedomPay and ScanSource to release the first PCI-certified point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and EMV payment solution in North America.
The new solution, which combines Ingenico’s On-Guard and FreedomPay Commerce platforms, covers EMV and NFC electronic payments, as well as those made with magnetic stripe... Read More...

VeriFone announced on Wednesday plans to expand its in-taxi payments service to include the Turkish capital of Istanbul and Mexico’s Mayan Riviera.
According to VeriFone, its full suite of taxi payment services, which include Way2Ride—the company’s award-winning mobile taxi app—will be available to more than 20,000 taxis in the two... Read More...

Heartland Payment Systems, the fifth largest payment processor in the U.S., announced on Thursday that it has acquired mobile tablet creator Leaf for an undisclosed amount.
According to Heartland, the acquisition demonstrates the company’s commitment to providing a POS platform that simplifies operations for small businesses. Leaf will... Read More...

More than 575 million payment cards in the U.S. will feature EMV chip technology by the end of 2015, according to the Payments Security Task Force (PST), a trade body established to track the EMV migration.
“These numbers reflect the significant momentum behind the adoption of EMV chip in the United States,” Ryan McInerney, the president of... Read More...

Western Union announced on Monday that it has partnered with MTN Group, a mobile telecommunications company operating in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, to launch a new mobile money transfer service in Ivory Coast.
Consumers in the country who use MTN’s Mobile Money service will be able to receive a Western Union money transfer... Read More...

A recent report that compared worldwide person-to-person (P2P) mobile payment services showed Britain leads the world market in infrastructure, ownership, speed and customer experience.
The report, compiled by the U.K. Payments Council, found Britain’s top spot in the mobile payments market is due in large part to the P2P Paym payments... Read More...

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program announced two new grant awards to support collaborative projects that address challenges in cybersecurity.
The “Frontier” awards, which are part of a $74.5 million investment to support cybersecurity research and education, will go towards the... Read More...

A new staff report released by the Federal Trade Commission found many consumer disclosures for mobile apps designed to be used in online shopping do not provide shoppers with adequate information.
The report—which examined 121 of the most popular apps, including in-store shopping apps and “deal” apps, as well as comparison shopping... Read More...

American Express recently announced that it has partnered with Croatia’s Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ), the second largest bank in the country, to launch a test pilot of an NFC payments system using host card emulation technology.
“American Express recognizes that consumers around the world are paying in new and different ways,” Mike... Read More...

Russia’s central bank recently said that it would create a national payment card system to compete with Visa and MasterCard without the use of existing infrastructure.
The Central Bank of Russia’s press office said the new system is expected to be up and running in 2015, and the first system-branded cards are expected to be issued within a... Read More...

U.S. Bank recently announced a new suite of tools aimed at securing, enhancing and streamlining payments made by business travelers.
The new capabilities, which will be introduced during the Global Business Travel Association’s annual conference this week, include U.S. Bank Travel VirtualPay, real-time credit limit change capabilities and... Read More...

Visa announced last week a new suite of offerings aimed at securing payments across a number of internet-connected devices and wearables.
Visa Digital Solutions offerings will fall into two categories: support for new methods of payment and technology to protect consumers and facilitate innovation, according to a Visa press release.
“Visa... Read More...

The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) will host an event next month to educate businesses and consumers on enhancing the security of their everyday online activities.
The event, which will begin at 9 a.m. on Aug. 5 at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center at Liberty Park in Clarksville, Tenn., will include participation from Rep. Marsha... Read More...

Goodwill announced on Monday that it is currently investigating a potential data breach involving consumers’ credit card information after a payment card industry fraud investigative unit and federal authorities alerted the organization to potential theft.
“Goodwills across North America take the data of consumers seriously and their... Read More...

MasterCard extended its global reach even further last week with the introduction of its MasterPass digital wallet technology in Poland.
uPaid will be among the first to use the MasterPass platform to power its uPaid wallet. uPaid will switch its current MasterCard Mobile users to the wallet, according to a Mastercard press release.
“In... Read More...